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British Union of Fascists
The British Union of Fascists (BU) was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley. In 1936, it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union. Mosley, a former Labour MP, had left Labour after proposing comparatively radical response to the unemployment problem in 1930. He created the very short-lived "New Party", before his newly-confirmed devotion to fascism led him to wrap up the New Party and form the BUF in 1932. While initially quite successful in local elections, it never stood in a general election; it lost much of its funding before the 1935 election, and urged its voters to stay home, anticipating "fascism next time." However, World War II prevented the 1940 general election, and by 1945, the next election, the war was over and fascism was discredited. In any event, the Union was condemned as an enemy of the state and was banned by the authorities in 1940. British Union of Fascists in In the Presence of Mine Enemies After Britain was defeated in the Second World War, Germany installed the British Union of Fascists as the only legal political party in Britain''In the Presence of Mine Enemies, pg. 51. with Oswald Mosley as Prime Minister.Somewhat speculative as Mosley is only fleetingly compared to Hitler. Pg. 67. By 2010, Oswald was long dead and the BUF was still the only party in British politics, usually toeing the German line.Ibid., pg. 51. However, with the death of ''Führer Kurt Haldweim, the BUF began a period of quiet subversiveness, extolling the virtues of the First Edition of Mein Kampf, wherein Hitler, before he came to power, supported the democratic election of the party leader.Ibid., pg. 74. This idea galvanized the BUF's younger generation. At their 2010 convention, Charlie Lynton was elected Prime Minister after long chants of "First Edition!" from his supporters, and the complete lack of fresh ideas from the party's older generation.Ibid., pgs. 104-108 British Union of Fascists in The War That Came Early In the aftermath of the "big switch" of 1940, which saw Britain and France reach a truce with Germany, and then align with Germany against the Soviet Union, Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists regained a certain amount of political momentum. Party supporters, known as "Silver Shirts"See Inconsistencies in Turtledove's Work#Inconsistencies in The War That Came Early., appeared at the funeral of War Minister Winston Churchill in 1940 in uniform, to jeer as his body was carried down the street.The Big Switch, pgs. 236-237. British Union of Fascists in Worldwar After the Race Invasion of Tosev 3 began, the war against Nazism fell by the wayside. With Britain increasing its ties to Nazi Germany in the decades after the Race Invasion, the BUF made a comeback in British politics. In 1963, Oswald Mosley, a BUF MP, proposed legislation that would have effectively stripped British Jews of their citizenship.Second Contact, pg. 328 The legislation failed, but Jews such as David Goldfarb knew that it would only be a matter of time before public opinion turned Mosley's way.Ibid., pg. 415. See Also *The Silver Shirts, a similar UK political party appearing in the Southern Victory series. References Category:In the Presence of Mine Enemies Category:Britain Category:Fascism Category:OTL Political Parties Category:The War That Came Early Category:Worldwar Category:Inconsistencies